If paying soc sec is a tax then receiving it must be charity.

Its more like an insurance policy since you are guaranteed so much a month with no knowledge if you will live long enough to receive it or not.

I'm gonna go file for mine today.

Seriously.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If they dissolved SS today your tax burden would not significantly decrease. The pirates would be right back in your pocket with some other excuse. At least this way a little money trickles down to the working people. Most of the SS money still goes to big money, they are just bent because the little people handle it, dirty it, before it goes home again.

Once again, if jobs were available that paid a living wage SS would work just fine. When the powers that be sent the jobs overseas they knew SS would be underfunded.

Maybe I don't know the definition of "tax". The government compels us to pay into Social Security out of our gross pay. That seems like a tax to me.

Don't forget that your employer ( or you, if self employed) pays a like amount. Talk about sneaky financing! The true cost of hiring an employee has to include both sides of the SS "tax"--you don't think the employer takers that out of his pocket, do you? Its just part of his cost of doing business and his cost of having you as an employee.
Why do you think it was set up this way? Obviously it was done to hide the full amount paid into SS.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Some comes out of the employer's pocket and some comes out of the employee's. Some of it comes out of the employers pocket because:That contribution increases the cost of doing business without providing a direct enhancement to the employer's products or services. I would think, therefore, that it comes out of profits and therefore out of the employer's pocket.Seems like a plausible explanation.

And then you woke up and discovered the truth. You cannot be so naive to think it stops there, can you? If it costs more to do business, the balance comes from YOU.

When I hire an employee, I have to consider the WHOLE package and not just the wages. That means insurance, vacation, sick leave, etc, etc.

As I have asked you before, simply tell me how much taxes I paid if I made 100K. It includes EVERYTHING lumped in and not just the IRS figure. If the business gets taxed more or the cost goes up, it gets passed onto the customer. Unlike the govt, it cannot print more money to make payroll.

You want 100% coverage on insurance? Sure. I'll give it to you but I'll take it somewhere else. Either out of your paycheck or pass it onto the customer or both. You want 3 weeks of paid vacation? Sure. I'll pay out less somewhere to make the number work or add that to the cost of doing business and charge the customer more or both.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

That's what I just said.You asked me that before? I assume that my answer then was, "How would I know?" If I didn't get back to you when you asked before, I will do so now: How would I know?

I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. When you said , I interpreted it to mean that it stops at the employer's pocket, IOW the employer eats the cost. Can you clarify.

Fair enough. You don't know. I also mentioned that my accountant doesn't either. So, if nobody knows, is it safe to assume that we cannot know when the cost is passed onto the consumer, IOW an INDIRECT TAX, but a tax, nonetheless? If we don't know, we don't really know how much we paid in taxes, whether it is too much or too little, right? If the business cannot simply print money, where do you think the shortfall goes? If the business continues to absorb shortfalls, what happens to the business?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow